Optimising retail assets via after hours niche promotions

                                                                                                                                         pic: The Argus

According to The Argus, 8,500 students yesterday flooded Brighton’s Churchill Square shopping centre to take advantage of 20% discounts.

The Student Lock-in event, one of 40 events in 20 cities, is organised by the marketing company Total Students, takes place after normal hours starting at 6.30pm and ending at 10.30pm.

Students are granted exclusive access to one-night-only discounts, giveaways and competitions across on-site stores and promotional stands. A range of entertainment is provided, including meet and greets with famous faces; activities include climbing walls and surf simulators; on-site club features like bars, live music and DJ performances

Worth locking in some students for something really incremental in your category?

Aldi - hard discounting to themed promotions for the royal savvy shopper

Ever wonder why Aldi retain share after a downturn? Obviously in a recession they pick up students and oldies who tend to remember a bargain, and often treat them royally...

However, a new dimension has entered their marketing mix in the shape of themed promotions pushing categories, in limited range discounting (although you would never know it). 

Those in doubt may be reading the wrong newspapers. Why not take a look at The Daily Mirror, check the links and see if any of your promos match up to Aldi’s latest..?

This month Aldi have:

Light bites
Try our three yummy recipes – perfect for al fresco dining.
Al fresco delights: Easy-to-make summer recipes for BBQs and picnics

Baby boom
Everything you need for when your bundle of joy arrives.
Baby love: Take advantage of Aldi's baby and toddler event in stores today

Starry night
Tent-astic deals for the ideal family staycation.
Carry on glamping: Aldi's guide to the great outdoors

Ah, go on, take a look, you’ll be in good company -  Aldi are even advising Kate & Wills to take note of their baby promotion….

Seriously, is it time you did something about Aldi, seriously?

The letter vs. the spirit of multibuy promotions

Given the media coverage of Which? latest research on ‘misleading’  promotions, the key issue is how the consumer-shopper will react to creeping realisation that no-one can be trusted…

As a person or company works to the edge of ‘right and wrong’ they might acknowledge that whilst their observation of the spirit of the law might be in question, strictly speaking they remained within the letter of the law... In an environment where loyalty to a brand or store is increasingly fragile, spirit and letter become indistinguishable, especially to a savvy consumer, and, as you know we are all becoming savvy consumers...  This means that if a deal even seems wrong, the damage is already done..

The Which? findings
Which? year-long investigation into "misleading" pricing tactics by the major chains indicated that seven out of 10 people prefer straightforward discounts to multibuy offers.

Multibuy deals have become a staple of supermarket promotions in recent years, and now apply to nearly half the goods on offer in a supermarket at any one time. Which? said that of the 115 products that it examined in the first half of this year, 46% of the time they were on multibuy, compared with 35% of the time in the first half of 2011.

Increasing suspicion
But there are signs that consumers have become increasingly disillusioned by the value on offer in supermarket promotions. Around one in 10 products on supermarket shelves increased in price when they went from the previous standard price to the new multibuy price, then decreased again when the promotion ended.

Losing the consumer...
The only real issue for suppliers and retailers is whether, having been ‘mislead’ by a promotion, the shopper associates the deception with the multibuy itself, the  brand involved or the shopkeeper…  In other words, does the shopper dismiss multibuys and revert to ‘straight’ sales, switch to another brand or change stores…

Given the upfront investment in getting the consumer-shopper to this point, it seems a pity to then kick ‘em over to the opposition….